On March 28th Kicking Horse Mtn resort hosted the first annual Dogtooth Dash as the Canadian Championships. We were assured a great day of racing when we woke to clear skies and 5 cm of new snow. The “full-on” nature of Kicking Horse’s terrain lent itself well to a very technical challenging race.

Over 40 racers lined up for the Le Mans start and sprint around the top area before the mass downhill. The first transition was crowded with Canadian Jeff Colvin emerging first. With over 10 transitions the course would favour those with refined change-over skills.

The peloton stayed tight for the first half of the race until it entered the technical portion where racers navigated through steep bootpacks, tricky skiing, exposed knife-edge ridges and to the top of Terminator Pk. The descent off the peak tested what was left of the racers legs leading into the final lap along the ridge to the start/finish area at the Eagle’s Eye Restaurant.

In the end American Scott Coldiron took first place, with the inexhaustible Canadian Reiner Thoni in second, James Minfie of Fernie securing third and Stano Faban battling to fourth. The women put on an amazing effort, closing the gender gap and showing how all their training and hard work has paid off. Top Canadian Julie Mattieu blazed to first place, Mel Bernier took second and Golden local Billie Velisek stole third.

We’re excited and anticipate “The Dash” becoming a must do race in North America. For more information on this race or any races in the Canadian Cup check out www.skimocanada.org